Teen Killed In Neighborhood Watch Shooting

"17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a Neighborhood Watch captain inside his own gated Orlando, Florida community where he was living with his father, stepmother and little brother, according to the family's lawyer."

"SANFORD, Fla.—Calls made to police show that a black teenager was terrified as he tried to get away from the white neighborhood watch volunteer who shot him, and that the volunteer was not defending himself as he has claimed, the teen's family told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Sanford police released eight 911 calls late Friday. The neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, tells a dispatcher in the first call that he is following 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He says Martin is running, but the dispatcher tells him not to follow the teen.

"How can you claim self-defense and you are the aggressor?" Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin's father, told the AP on Saturday.

Zimmerman had called police to report a suspicious person walking through the gated community. He has said he shot the teen in self-defense. Zimmerman's father said in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel that his son, who is Hispanic, has been cruelly and unfairly portrayed in the media as a racist.

The teen had gone to a convenience store to buy candy and was walking back to his family's home in the neighborhood.

"This guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something," Zimmerman told the dispatcher from his SUV. He added that the black teen had his hand in his waistband and was walking around looking at homes.

"These a-------. They always get away," Zimmerman said on a 911 call.

He has said he acted in self-defense, but Martin's family said they are now more convinced than ever that Zimmerman should be charged in the shooting. Several of the 911 calls made by neighbors describe some sort of scuffle or fight outside, someone yelling for help and a gunshot.

"(Zimmerman) was chasing him, he was following him, and my son was afraid," Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, told the AP. "He didn't know who this stranger was."

Tracy Martin said the calls paint a stark picture of what were his son's final moments.

"He was yelling for help, and no one could help him. He saw his life being taken away from him," Tracy Martin said.

The case has been turned over to the State Attorney's Office, which can decide whether to file charges or present evidence to a grand jury.

Trayvon Martin's family said they will continue pushing for charges to be filed against Zimmerman.

"We're hoping this doesn't happen again to another family, and that America opens their eyes ... even though this won't bring Trayvon back, we don't want there to be another Trayvon," Tracy Martin said.

Moments after Zimmerman's first call, dispatchers were bombarded by seven 911 calls from frantic neighbors describing a fight between two men, screaming and then a gunshot.Continued..."

As a black man in 2012, its disgusting that I still have to be careful about where I walk. I was born and raised in Central Florida, not going to say its like the Jim Crow Era, not even the 1950s because racism is still very prevalent. I also stay in a similar community, I was joking about something like this happening not to long ago.

Why are you providing people with the address of his parents? Are you hoping someone will go around and kill him + his parents and things will be "even" or better? That is the worst case scenario I can think of when you provide that information to the public, and that is what you've done.

Although what he's done is unbeliably shit and he should be punished for it, why are you putting his parents at risk?

I'm pretty sure distributing that material in this fashion is massively illegal too, considering what it's going to be used for.

As a black man in 2012, its disgusting that I still have to be careful about where I walk. I was born and raised in Central Florida, not going to say its like the Jim Crow Era, not even the 1950s because racism is still very prevalent. I also stay in a similar community, I was joking about something like this happening not to long ago.

Beware....Al Sharpton press conference coming....

As a white man i also have to be careful where I walk, racism is not limited to one race.

I never knew neighborhood watches were armed. I always thought the purpose was to spot something suspicious and be able to alert the authorities immediately. All he had to do was ask the young man what he was doing and even if the kid answered sarcastically or ignored him it wouldn't have called for a bullet in the chest. Fuck that guy, I hope he goes to a federal fuck you in the ass jail, because the second the prison population finds out he shot an unarmed 17 year old black kid, he's fucked. I bet they shove skittles up his asshole until he shits in rainbox colors.

I never knew neighborhood watches were armed. I always thought the purpose was to spot something suspicious and be able to alert the authorities immediately. All he had to do was ask the young man what he was doing and even if the kid answered sarcastically or ignored him it wouldn't have called for a bullet in the chest. Fuck that guy, I hope he goes to a federal fuck you in the ass jail, because the second the prison population finds out he shot an unarmed 17 year old black kid, he's fucked. I bet they shove skittles up his asshole until he shits in rainbox colors.

You are correct in your understanding of the purpose of neighborhood watch programs.

It's not some kind of organized "posse". They're supposed to report suspicious activity to the authorities and take no action themselves.

I never knew neighborhood watches were armed. I always thought the purpose was to spot something suspicious and be able to alert the authorities immediately. All he had to do was ask the young man what he was doing and even if the kid answered sarcastically or ignored him it wouldn't have called for a bullet in the chest. Fuck that guy, I hope he goes to a federal fuck you in the ass jail, because the second the prison population finds out he shot an unarmed 17 year old black kid, he's fucked. I bet they shove skittles up his asshole until he shits in rainbox colors.

That is the point of a Neighborhood Watch. The fact of the matter is that this lunatic had access to a gun and has admitted to committing this crime. And as far as I know, he was let go free from the scene of the crime. It's a travesty that this even happened, regardless if it was a gated community or not.